Gospel-worship, or, The right manner of sanctifying the name of God in general and…

You will say, Must we plough up our hearts before we come to hear? It must be the Word that must plough us, the Word is the Plough, and so the Ministers of God are compared to Ploughmen in the Word, He that puts his hand to the Plough and looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of Heaven.

You will say, Must we plow up our hearts before we come to hear? It must be the Word that must plow us, the Word is the Plow, and so the Ministers of God are compared to Plowmen in the Word, He that puts his hand to the Plow and looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of Heaven.

It is true, it cannot be expected that the heart should be throughly ploughed as it ought but by the Word, therefore at the first coming to hear there is not hope that men will sanctify Gods Name till the Word gets into plough them, and so by getting at one time into their hearts they come to be prepared for hearing at another time. And yet somewhat may be done before, by that natural knowledge that men have they may come to know themselves to be sinners, and come to understand themselves to be very weak and ignorant by some knowledge that they may have by the works of God, and by conference with others, and by reading and the like, and so they may in some measure come to have their hearts to be humble. And it is good to make use of these to humble the heart: but now, You that have heard the Word often, and yet have not sanctified Gods Name, there be Truths that you have heard heretofore, that if you had made use of in private to have ploughed up your hearts, they would have prepared your hearts for the next time in hearing of the Word, If therefore you would hear the word with a great deal more profit than formerly, your hearts must be ploughed by humiliation,

It is true, it cannot be expected that the heart should be throughly plowed as it ought but by the Word, therefore at the first coming to hear there is not hope that men will sanctifie Gods Name till the Word gets into plow them, and so by getting at one time into their hearts they come to be prepared for hearing at another time. And yet somewhat may be done before, by that natural knowledg that men have they may come to know themselves to be sinners, and come to understand themselves to be very weak and ignorant by some knowledg that they may have by the works of God, and by conference with others, and by reading and the like, and so they may in some measure come to have their hearts to be humble. And it is good to make use of these to humble the heart: but now, You that have heard the Word often, and yet have not sanctified Gods Name, there be Truths that you have heard heretofore, that if you had made use of in private to have plowed up your hearts, they would have prepared your hearts for the next time in hearing of the Word, If therefore you would hear the word with a great deal more profit than formerly, your hearts must be plowed by humiliation,